This Lamb Burger Is All We Want On Burger Night

You know how some nights are just “burger nights”? On those nights, you have to go all out, and “all out” inevitably means fries, the downfall of many a healthyish aspirant. But when you order the lamb burger at Hart’s, the Brooklyn restaurant that’s basically BA’s second office these days, fries aren’t even an option. Because this isn’t a token burger for unadventurous guests, it’s an integrated menu item, made with the same level of thoughtfulness as everything else on the menu. The brininess of the anchovies meets the gaminess of the meat. The fennel is an assertive vegetable that pierces through and keeps the lamb flavor in check. The aioli is a genius touch: A yogurt sauce wouldn’t be assertive enough, but this condiment matches the other flavors nicely.

So let’s start with that aioli. If you've got salt-packed capers, soak them in warm water for 20 minutes to get rid of the excess saltiness. Their flavor is usually better than brined capers, but drained brined capers would also work fine here. Whisk them in with your mayo, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, and garlic and season to taste. You can make this a day in advance if you want: Just add a little extra lemon juice before serving for freshness.

As for the meat itself, season it simply with salt and, after shaping it into patties, let it sit at room temperature for half an hour. Letting the meat come to room temp before cooking and rest a bit after cooking helps create a more evenly cooked burger. Otherwise the center can stay too cool and throw off your cook time.

The best way to cook these burgers is in a cast iron pan, but they’d be great on a grill, too. Let the patties brown, but don’t worry if they don’t take on as much color as you’re used to with beef burgers. It should take around 5-7 minutes on each side to get them perfectly cooked. When they’re done, let them rest for ten minutes so all the good juices stay in the meat.

This is when you do your slaw, which is basically a super-simple salad that goes on top of your burger. Toss celery, fennel, fennel fronds if you’re using them, onion, lemon juice, dried mint, and oil together and season that with salt and pepper.

You want good sturdy bakery buns for this—there’s a lot of sauciness going on between the aioli, the burgers, and the slaw. When you’re assembling your burgers, be sure to spread plenty of aioli on the buns, add the patties, the anchovies if using (we highly recommend them!), and a heap of the slaw. Pour yourself a glass of rosé if you so choose, put on a bib, and have at it.

For this lamb burgers recipe, you'll want to splurge on good sturdy bakery buns that can absorb the extra liquid from the slaw and burger without disintegrating. This recipe is from Hart's in Brooklyn, our #5 Best New Restaurant in America 2017.